


Freshman Year

by BlackKittens



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 00:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKittens/pseuds/BlackKittens
Summary: Four times Tadashi meets a new friend and one time they all hang out.





	Freshman Year

**Author's Note:**

> This includes my headcanons for the gang's real names. I don't know if I headcanon this to be how they all met, but it was fun to write! I hope you enjoy!

**1.) Freshman Orientation**

San Fransokyo Institute of Technology's campus was utterly amazing and Tadashi couldn't wait to start classes next week. He almost couldn't believe he had been accepted here, that he had a full scholarship supporting him. This place was incredible! It wasn't exactly a wonder to him why his hands were slightly shaking as he left the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab, where he and the other robotics majors had just met with all their professors, including _the_ Robert Callaghan. His hands were shaking out of excitement, Tadashi thought and grinned to himself.

Hiro would probably make fun of him for it when he got home, but that didn't deter him; the brat was always making fun of him for being a nerd and enjoying school, as if he himself weren't an eleven year old in high school who whined and cried whenever Tadashi made him play or watch baseball games with him. Besides, Tadashi was on SFIT's campus, about to start classes under a full scholarship, and had just met _THE_ Robert Callaghan - !

"Yeah, school pride! SCIENCE! _Awesome!_ High-five!"

Tadashi stumbled as a giant, green, bug-eyed suit suddenly popped out in front of him, one plastic clawed hand raised high.

"Oops, sorry, dude," the suit - a lizard suit, Tadashi realized; the university mascot, his brain helpfully supplied a moment too late - grabbed him by the arm to help stabilize him so he wouldn't fall over. "You're like, the fourth person I scared today by doing that. I told myself I wasn't going to do it anymore after that one chick screamed 'cause apparently she has a phobia of lizards, but you looked so happy to be here and I kind of forgot, hahaha."

Tadashi blinked rapidly, then shook his head, getting his bearings. "Huh? Oh, no, it's all right; I'm fine. High-five, right?"

"Yeah!" the mascot enthused, and they both laughed as they high-fived. "Robotics major?" he asked, pointing at the Ito Ishiki building behind him. "I saw Professor Roe head that way with a bunch of students. It's the _robotics_ lab, I know, but a lot of students regardless of major end up working in there, so I don't want to assume based on that."

Tadashi raised his eyebrows. That was new to him. He wondered why. Electives, maybe? "Wow, okay. Uh, yup, that's my major all right. Robotics engineering."

"Cool!" the mascot exclaimed, pumping his fist. "Are you gonna build a super awesome mecha that will tower over the campus gates!? That would be so cool!"

Tadashi opened his mouth and closed it, a little stunned. "Like - Like in anime, you mean? Like a...gundum?"

The mascot brought his fists close to his chest. "YEAH! Like a gundum, or transformer, or a - a - _Are you gonna build one!?"_

Tadashi was beginning to feel a bit taken back by this conversation. It was starting to sound more like they were talking science fiction rather than going to college for a career in real science. "Um, I mean, I could build a replica if I had the supplies but, uh, no. That's not really what I was planning."

"All right, all right, fair," the mascot nodded pleasantly. "What are you going to build? Come on, dude, rack up some enthusiasm for your future projects! Science is always changing the world!"

Tadashi gave him a crooked smile, not sure how much this guy was joking around (hence the mechas) and how much he would be sincerely interested in Tadashi's vague idea of a nurse bot. "Well...something that'll change the world, that's for sure."

"Sweet!" the mascot cheered, as if that were a real, detailed answer. He held out a clawed hand. "So what's your name, man?"

Tadashi shifted his weight. This guy sure was a little weird, but...he seemed all right. He took his claw and shook it. "Tadashi Hamada."

"Neat!" The mascot flipped open the mouth of his suit, revealing a blonde haired young man in a green kaiju beanie. "Fred Lee at your service!"

Tadashi bit back a laugh at his enthusiasm - it was turning out to be contagious - and gave a wide smile. "Nice to meet ya, Fred. I'm guessing you're not a freshman, huh?"

"Nope," Fred shook his head. "Well, sort of. I'm not a freshman here, but I am at SF State. We had our orientation the day before yesterday, which is great because I don't want my two schedules to clash."

Tadashi blinked, surprised. "You're enrolled at SFIT and SF State? Wow. Aren't you afraid the workload is going to kill you? I've heard SFIT alone is terrifying..."

Fred laughed. "No, dude. I'm only enrolled at SF State. My favorite deans over there did help me get the mascoting job over here, though! No, I've got a mind for English, not science, but I still LOVE science. Being this school's mascot is like a dream come true."

"Whoa," Tadashi blinked a third time. "I didn't think you could be the mascot of a school you didn't go to. So you're going to be hanging around SFIT when you're not at SF State?"

Fred nodded cheerfully. "It's so great. I get the best of both worlds, Tadashi! Hey, do you like comic books?"

Weird transition, but Tadashi found himself following in step with Fred, who began walking away, interested in where this was going. "Yeah. I love Daisuke Danger and Amazing Man. They're my favorites."

"Ooo, the daring Daisuke Danger and alien refugee Amazing Man," Fred grinned. "I remember watching both cartoon adaptations when I was a kid. What's your favorite era? Gold, silver, bronze, today's tin?"

And that was the start of a new friendship.

**2.) Second Week**

Tadashi was into his second week of class, and his nerves were buzzing with both excitement and dread. It was the only the second week and he already had three papers and two small-scale models to complete by _this Friday._ Part of him felt like he was going to die. The rest of him was geared up for the challenge.

SFIT was already proving to be a difficult school, and Callaghan hadn't been kidding when he said his program wasn't designed for those who expected to fly through class with straight As. They had to work hard, study harder, and make full use of his and the other professors' office hours if they were going to make it through the robotics program. Tadashi was itching to prove himself.

So far, he had met plenty of people on campus and in his classes and got along swimmingly with all of them. Some of them he even recognized from high school or middle school. Fred, however, was the only one he'd connected enough with to call a new friend. It turned out they were both comic geeks, shared a similar sense of humor, and to Tadashi's relief, Fred was just as interested in hearing about his vague nursebot idea as he was suggesting Tadashi build a giant, functioning mecha. It was fun hanging out with him. In fact, Tadashi was on his way to the student lounge to snack with Fred as he researched one of his papers.

Except, as he was crossing one of the bridges on the grounds, he heard a frantic, "Heads up!" and the next thing Tadashi knew, he was flat on his stomach on the wood with a bike tire weighing down his back. Perpendicular to his body laid a sprawled out young woman in a red tank top and dyed purple hair.

"Thanks for moving out of the way, jackass," she groaned as she sat up.

"You didn't exactly give me time to react," Tadashi grunted, shoving her bike off himself. He sat up. "Why didn't you stop before you hit me?"

"You were taking up the whole bridge," the woman snapped, folding her legs together and clamping her hands around her calves. "I couldn't get around you, hence I yelled, 'Heads up!'"

"That doesn't explain why you didn't stop," he argued.

The woman pursed her lips together, shoulders hunching.

A beat passed.

Tadashi raised his eyebrows. "Well? Why didn't you hit the breaks?"

Her mouth twisted into a snarl. "I don't _have_ breaks. They get in the way."

Now his brow flew to his hairline. Had Hiro turned into a girl, aged up seven years, and joined Tadashi at SFIT?

"How does a _safety_ measure get in the way!?" he demanded.

"Look, I'm sorry I crashed into you," she forced out, unfolding her legs to stand up. "I've gotta get this piece of junk back to the labs. It's not as nearly as fast as I want it to be; it's barely faster than a normal bike."

Tadashi jerked his neck back and took a second look at her bike. It was green and black, and now that he was looking closer, was that electromagnetic suspension?

"You're using electromagnetic suspension to speed it up?" he asked.

"Yup," the woman brushed off her thighs. "What of it?"

"Nothing much," Tadashi thumbed at the front wheel. "It just reminds me of this one time my brother and I turned a grocery cart and our aunt's washing machine into a hover car. We went  _ZOOMING_ down the down street in the middle of traffic, terrified. It was fun, though. Does this thing levitate high?"

The woman gawked at him. "...No. I want a bike, not a hovercar. This is my first proto-type. How fast did you and your brother go?"

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know the exact speed - I was eleven or twelve and wasn't paying enough attention to the numbers - but probably twice as fast as the cars on the street. At the least. We zipped right by them like they were nothing."

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. Half a moment passed before she lended a hand to help him up.

"I'm Ethel Chun," she introduced herself. "Tell me more about your hovercar."

**3.) Mid-September**

Tadashi was stuck in the library at eleven o'clock at night, burned out eyes glued to the pages of a laser photonics textbook. He an exam on the subject tomorrow. It was going to be worth fifteen percent of his final grade. If he bombed this, he'd have to get straight A's for the rest of the semester to achieve a final grade of eighty-five percent. He was neither going to get straight A's nor finish the semester with an eighty-five. The former was impossible, it seemed, and the latter - well, he wasn't going to let the latter happen. Tadashi had gotten eighty-five percents and lower grades in the past, but never as a final grade. He'd never had a final grade lower than eighty-nine (stupid sixth grade, third quarter English; his introduction to Shakespeare had been difficult). He had to study. He had to pass. He was not dropping out of SFIT less than a month in.

Fred and Ethel were no help. Fred didn't understand science too well, and Ethel was cracking under the pressure of her own classes. Tadashi was completely on his own, staring at the textbook for the fifth hour in a row.

"Hey, you doing okay?"

Tadashi lifted his head, neck slowly craning up. He had been in this section of the library since seven o'clock; his muscles were stiff.

A large, muscular dude in a light blue button up with a neatly folded collar peered down at him, two cups of what smelled like coffee in his hands.

Tadashi blinked at him. He had never seen this guy before in his life; that coffee couldn't be for him, could it? "Uhh…"

The dude looked down at the open textbook. "Hey, laser photonics. I have that class. Professor Yoshida?"

It took a split second for Tadashi's brain to process the fact questioning words had been spoken to him. "Um, no. Dr. Hara."

The dude nodded. "Ah, okay. No offense, but you look like you're about to die."

The bluntness of the statement had Tadashi puffing out a laugh. "I am. I think I finally met my scientific match. I don't get this. I've never failed to understand the absolute basics the way I am now. What even _is_ laser photonics!?"

The dude set his coffee cups down and pulled out the chair across from Tadashi. "Mind if I help? I was supposed to have a late night study session with a guy from one of my other classes, but he never showed up. I can help you with whatever you're struggling with."

Tadashi's heart lurched. "Would you!? Oh, thank god; if I can't get past this, then I have a bad feeling it'll be a sign SFIT and I weren't meant to be, and this is my dream school; I can't start failing now."

"No problem," the dude pulled the textbook longways between them. He pushed one of the coffee cups towards Tadashi. "You want this? I swear he never showed up and drank out of it, so no fear of germs or backwash. You look like you need some energy."

"Thanks," Tadashi couldn't help snatching it up and gulping a mouthful down. "I'm Tadashi Hamada, by the way. What's your name?"

"Felix Anthony," he replied. "Okay, so where are you losing it with the basics?"

**4.) Two weeks Before Mid-Terms**

Earthquakes weren't new to San Fransokyo, so when the ground rumbled beneath Tadashi's feet on his way to the parking lot where his moped was parked to head home for the day, he thought a low level earthquake had briefly hit.

Then he heard the squealing and cackling.

"It works!" a feminine voice cheered from a short distance away, over a small hill off the sidewalk path Tadashi was on. "It really, super duper, positively works! _Goodbye,_ you ugly, old sofa! _Adiós!_ _"_

Okay, that grabbed his curiosity by the horns.

Tadashi turned on his heel, heading in the direction of the voice over the hill. He had to check this out.

At the bottom of the small hill lay the charred remains of what he would agree used to be a sofa. An old, faded, dark green sofa with an irregular shape pattern on it, judging by the designs on the blown apart bits of fabric. Splintered wood was strewn everywhere.

And at the center of it all was a tall, thin, blonde woman in a pink and yellow sundress, jumping in her sandals.

"What did you do?" Tadashi asked, half awkwardly laughing; this looked like a scene ripped out of an old cartoon.

The woman's eyes landed on him. Immediately, her excited expression died.

"I'm - I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I thought I was far enough away from the buildings and parking lot. I didn't break anything, did I!?"

Tadashi did a doubletake. "Not that I'm aware. I felt the ground shake and heard you laughing, so I came to investigate. I'm not going to...tell on you, if that's what you think."

The woman blinked rapidly. Then her eyes widened, and she bit back a laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry - I'm looking right at you but I didn't even see you! I thought you were a professor about to yell at me. My name's Gabriella Velazquez. What's your name?"

"Tadashi Hamada," he answered. "So, what are you doing?"

"I'm blowing up old furniture my family doesn't want anymore," she explained. "It's helping me cope with the upcoming mid-terms. To tell you the truth, I've never been more scared of tests in my life. And I thought applying here was tough; what am I going to do when finals roll around?"

"I don't know," Tadashi said. "I guess it depends on if your family runs out of old furniture or not."

She cracked a large smile. "You're funny!"

Tadashi scratched the back of his head. "Thanks. Uh, no offense, but why are you blowing furniture up on school grounds?"

"Because the campus is huge and I have plenty of space away from the buildings. My aunt and uncle actually gave me this sofa because they figured putting it in my dorm was better than throwing it out. But it was so ugly...and I didn't want to have to drag it out somewhere off campus."

"Ah, I gotcha," he nodded. "You know real professors are probably going to investigate and get you in trouble if you keep doing this on school grounds, don't you? That'd be an awful way to get kicked out."

Gabriella winced. "Yeah... Now that you mention it, you're probably right. I was thinking getting scolded by the dean at worst, but - Ah, but I don't know where else to haul my stuff! Or how to get it there! Did I mention my chemistry equipment is in my dorm room and the explosives I use can't be contained for very long?"

Tadashi's eyes widened. Okay. That sounded like a death trap in the making.

Luckily, a solution came to him.

"I could help," he offered. "My brother and I go scavenging for spare parts at dumps around San Fransokyo all the time. I can borrow my aunt's truck every once in a while to help load your, uh, furniture and chemistry set. As long as we don't destroy her truck, we should be fine."

She brightened. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Better than doing this," he waved at the debris, "on school grounds. It's going to lead to trouble, either on your end or other students'."

Gabriella squealed. Tadashi flushed as she threw herself at him in a hug. When she pulled away, he added, still flustered, "A group of friends and I are going to have a study group this Saturday if you want to come. We're all different majors - one guy doesn't even technically go here - but we decided helping each other study and figure the material out together would help better than if we were study alone. Makes it less stressful. Want to come?"

She gawked at him. Suddenly, she seemed very shy. "Um, I don't know," she murmured. "I don't want to invade on you and your friends. I know I kind of seem bubbly off the bat to most people, but I'm not that comfortable being the odd one out."

"You don't have to worry about that," he assured her. "The four of us literally just met. I've known Fred the longest and I didn't meet him until Freshman Orientation. It'll be fine."

She hesitated a moment, but ultimately smiled big. "Sure! Where are you guys meeting?"

**+1.) Saturday**

Their little corner of the student lounge was buzzing with liveliness.

Fred had brought chips and popcorn along with his calculus homework, which made Felix cringe as crumbs and kernels scattered around the table. He chewed Fred out for it, but Fred only smiled a salt and buttery smile and asked question about his calc homework. Tadashi answered those questions with Felix.

Ethel and Gabriella were deep into a conversation that alternated between daredevil exploits, make up tips, and their frustrating classwork. Tadashi was pretty certain he heard something about a risky experiment they should try as he corrected one of Fred's problems.

Then, somehow, manga got brought in the conversation and their homework and upcoming mid-terms were forgotten as Tadashi, Fred, and Gabriella got into a serious debate over their favorite franchises. Ethel and Felix rolled their eyes at them and huddled together to discuss their physics assignments.

At one point, Ethel mentioned to him how she met Tadashi and their talk about his and Hiro's old hovercar, and that brought the whole gang into a group chat, Felix frantic over the idea of kids zooming between traffic, Fred shouting how awesome that was and how they should build another one, and Gabriella and Ethel wanting more details.

And so a group friendship was born.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending is abrupt, I know, but I actually wasn't sure how to end this... Maybe I'll write more someday. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
